Mama’s fundraising bake sale celebrates 20 years

For 20 years, Mama’s Kitchen has held its annual Thanksgiv­ing Pie Sale, benefiting the non­profit organization that provides medically tailored meals to indi­viduals in need throughout San Diego County. This year’s event kicks off on Oct. 21 when pies go on sale to the public.

To celebrate the 20th anniver­sary of the city’s largest bake sale, Mama’s Kitchen is offer­ing a special “mystery pie” fla­vor option. Buyers who select the mystery pie flavor will be given a special edition flavor exclusive for this year, which includes flavors like blueberry, mixed berry, and cherry almond streusel. Mystery flavor pies are extremely limited in quantity and will sell out fast.

Pie sales close on Friday, Nov. 22, or until pies sell out. Pie buyers can choose between pumpkin, traditional apple, pe­can, and Dutch apple pies at $32 per pie.

“Fall is pie season, no mat­ter where you are. But in San Diego, Fall is Mama’s Pies sea­son,” says Eva Matthews, CEO of Mama’s Kitchen in a press release. “Our annual bake sale is not only a great way for us to help people across San Diego complete their holiday meals with a delicious pie baked by some of the county’s finest culinary minds, but also a key way to raise the funds we need to provide medically tailored meals for our clients through­out the year. The holidays can be financially and emotionally draining for our clients, mak­ing our meal deliveries even more critical as they balance seasonal festivities and manag­ing their illnesses. Without the support of the community dur­ing Mama’s Pies, we wouldn’t be able to deliver the nutri­tional meals that so many of our clients rely on every week.”

Mama’s Kitchen is the larg­est provider of home-delivered meals in San Diego and re­cently became the second or­ganization in the entire nation to receive accreditation from the Food is Medicine Coali­tion. Alongside the community members who buy and sell the pies, dozens of San Diego chefs, caterers, bakers, and restau­rateurs will donate their time and talent to bake thousands of Thanksgiving pies all in sup­port of Mama’s Kitchen. The work of these community vol­unteers is crucial to the suc­cess of Mama’s Pies and di­rectly leads to more funds to help Mama’s Kitchen deliver breakfast, lunch, and dinner to people who are mentally or physically unable to prepare their meals due to a critical ill­ness.

There will be several pick­up sites throughout San Di­ego where buyers can pick up their orders beginning Tues­day, Nov. 26, just in time for Thanksgiving. Those who want to participate in Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale, but don’t need to purchase a pie can instead directly donate $32 to the “Holiday Feast” fund.

Though many bakers have already signed up to supply pies for this year’s fundraiser, Mama’s Kitchen could always use more, Those interested in becoming a pie supplier for Ma­ma’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale can contact Silvia Domin­guez at silvia@mamaskitchen. org. To learn about opportuni­ties as a pie seller or to become a volunteer or sponsor for Ma­ma’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale, visit mamaspies.org.